Opinions needed on new Craftsman Floor Jack.

[kidder]

I currently have a 10-15 year old Craftsman 3 ton steel floor jack. I recently got a new car and my current jack really does not fit under the car readily. Not only that - but I have always hated the way this type of jack would release the pressure (on or off, hard to modulate). Does anyone have one of these jacks or at least seen one in person? My local Sears Hardware retail stores do not stock it. Thank you in advance!


Craftsman Professional 3 ton Aluminum Floor Jack

Sears item# 00950244000 Mfr. model# 50244

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00950244000P

 

[billymade]

Spend about $100 more and get a Hein Warner HW93652: http://www.jackxchange.com/products/HW93652.cfm

 

[vjquan]

I'd just get a Costco Arcan 3-ton aluminum jack for $140.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15963

 

[nissan_crawler]

Does anyone have one of these jacks or at least seen one in person?
Craftsman Professional 3 ton Aluminum Floor Jack

Sears item# 00950244000 Mfr. model# 50244

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00950244000P

 

[Lightning]

I recently bought a cheap 3 ton floor jack for about $80.00 I decided not to spend much on this item because I only plan to use it once every two to three years.

 

[tanda4]

I went through 3 Craftsman jacks in 3 years. And I am just a casual jack user, maybe 1 time a month. The 3rd was the SUV jack and the (common problem) seal blew out. I will not be buying another craftsman. When funds allow, I will be buying a quality jack. The 3 Craftsman could have paid for a quality jack that would last much longer.

The problems I have is one, my car is very low and two a large size saddle will not fit due to the rocker panels.

 

[Lightning]

I went through 3 Craftsman jacks in 3 years. And I am just a casual jack user, maybe 1 time a month. The 3rd was the SUV jack and the (common problem) seal blew out. I will not be buying another craftsman. When funds allow, I will be buying a quality jack. The 3 Craftsman could have paid for a quality jack that would last much longer.

The problems I have is one, my car is very low and two a large size saddle will not fit due to the rocker panels.

That is terribe. Can you replace the seal and fix it?

 

[tanda4]

That is terribe. Can you replace the seal and fix it?

There is no replaceable or sold parts.

 

[Lightning]

My jack is probably a low quality ****, but I do not plan to use it much.

 

[nissan_crawler]

My HF jack is 10x what an craftsman jack is, and fully rebuildable.

 

[eschoendorff]

My HF jack is 10x what an craftsman jack is, and fully rebuildable.

Same here. I have this HF jack:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94629

It's been great. Probably made in the same factory in China as all the other jacks out there....

 

[MAD]

Spend about $100 more and get a Hein Warner HW93652: http://www.jackxchange.com/products/HW93652.cfm

The funny thing is that the same company that supplies the horrible jacks to Sears owns Hein Warner.
http://www.shinnfuamerica.com/(S(4ocdmojivazmfb45kaaqpuj0))/AboutUs/AboutShinnFu/Default.aspx

These crappy jacks illustrate the damage Sears is inflicting on itself for short term gain. You would think after several years of 1 star reviews someone might notice there is a problem with these. There is money to be made selling these but by branding them Craftsman they do themselves a great disservice in the long run.

 

[dxdexter]

A picture is worth a thousand words??? Or in this case one...****... Really classy.

 

[Underdog]

I researched this thread since I needed a new floor jack. My old china pos stopped lifting and so in the scrap bin it went. I wanted a American made jack and this one seemed to fit the bill.http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDisplay.cfm?lookup=HEIHW93652
Well ups dropped it off this morning and in a few minutes I had it unwrapped and found the rear casters would hardly swivel. Upon closer inspection one side wouldn't move the other somewhat. As I played with the casters by hand about ten small roller bearings fell outI went for a wrench to remove the top nut on the caster and 1 1/16" too small, 1 1/8 too big? Metric nut?
The casters I think are china made even though in big letters on top of the jack says Made in the USA. Have to get on the phone tomorrow and see if they'll send two new casters out. Oh well I tried.

 

[eschoendorff]

I researched this thread since I needed a new floor jack. My old china pos stopped lifting and so in the scrap bin it went. I wanted a American made jack and this one seemed to fit the bill.http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDisplay.cfm?lookup=HEIHW93652
Well ups dropped it off this morning and in a few minutes I had it unwrapped and found the rear casters would hardly swivel. Upon closer inspection one side wouldn't move the other somewhat. As I played with the casters by hand about ten small roller bearings fell outI went for a wrench to remove the top nut on the caster and 1 1/16" too small, 1 1/8 too big? Metric nut?
The casters I think are china made even though in big letters on top of the jack says Made in the USA. Have to get on the phone tomorrow and see if they'll send two new casters out. Oh well I tried.

Ouch, that ***** man. Especially for the $$$4 you paid for it!

 

[billymade]

Did they make it right for you? If they didn't contact the manufacturer!
Hein Warner Customer service is:
Shinn Fu Company of America, Inc.
10939 N. Pomona Avenue
Kansas City, Missouri 64153
United States

Telephone: (816) 891-6390

Fax: (816) 891-6599

Email: [email protected]

By the way; what did they charge for shipping for the jack? I noticed it was 110 lbs. but when I tried to check out on the website; they didn't show a shipping charge for the first shipping type, UPS Ground Saver. Is their shipping free?

 

[nissan_crawler]

I researched this thread since I needed a new floor jack. My old china pos stopped lifting and so in the scrap bin it went. I wanted a American made jack and this one seemed to fit the bill.http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDisplay.cfm?lookup=HEIHW93652
Well ups dropped it off this morning and in a few minutes I had it unwrapped and found the rear casters would hardly swivel. Upon closer inspection one side wouldn't move the other somewhat. As I played with the casters by hand about ten small roller bearings fell outI went for a wrench to remove the top nut on the caster and 1 1/16" too small, 1 1/8 too big? Metric nut?
The casters I think are china made even though in big letters on top of the jack says Made in the USA. Have to get on the phone tomorrow and see if they'll send two new casters out. Oh well I tried.

HF 2.5 ton long frame, lifts 32" vs the Hein-Werner 23", worked perfectly out of the box, $140 vs. $330, larger wheels.

 

[eschoendorff]

HF 2.5 ton long frame, lifts 32" vs the Hein-Werner 23", worked perfectly out of the box, $140 vs. $330, larger wheels.

I too have had great luck with HF jacks. Go figure...

I'm all for buying American, but for the extra expense, there should be better quality!

 

[Chief]

I went through 3 Craftsman jacks in 3 years. And I am just a casual jack user, maybe 1 time a month. The 3rd was the SUV jack and the (common problem) seal blew out. I will not be buying another craftsman. When funds allow, I will be buying a quality jack. The 3 Craftsman could have paid for a quality jack that would last much longer.

.

Great Web site

First post.

I could not agree more. I went through 2 2 1/4 trolley jacks in less than a year. They were constanly leaking fluid and bleeding out.

Finally I bought a 3 ton floor jack at HF for less than $60. I will never buy another craftsman jack. I would go the HF route and treat it as disposable or buck to buy a good one.

 

[jay50]

I have a Torin Big Red 3T floor jack; works great. Not sure if it is made in same slave factory in China as the HF model but it gets the job done.

 

[Mugenlude]

I do a lot of car racing on the weekends, so the jack needs to be low and easy to get around, so I decided to purchase an aluminum jack because of the weight vs. a good 'garage' floor jack. I went through a couple HF 3,000# (which kept blowing out seals) jacks before I purchased this Craftsman aluminum jack.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00950239000P

I have been using for 2.5 years now (in the garage or at the track an average of 2 times a week for the year) and it hasn't had any problems. I'm only lifting a 2,000 lb & 3,000 lbs cars though, I haven't tried it on anything heavier because I didn't have anything heavier.

I'm not saying it the greatest jack, I know that, but for it's purpose it has served me well. However, now I do need to purchase a new jack that can get my Excursion in the air, so I will be purchasing something more heavy duty which will just stay in the garage.

To the original poster, do you plan to be transporting the jack around? If not, I don't see the need for an aluminum jack.

 

[agfisher]

I picked up the 200t listesd on this page.

http://www.asedeals.com/automotive_floor_jacks.html

Free shipping. It can be rebuilt when need. High Quality

Very happy with the purchase. The company also has tons of other kinda of jacks

 

[tanda4]

I picked up the 200t listesd on this page.

http://www.asedeals.com/automotive_floor_jacks.html

Free shipping. It can be rebuilt when need. High Quality

Very happy with the purchase. The company also has tons of other kinda of jacks

I was looking at that one. How long have you had it?

 

[agfisher]

I was looking at that one. How long have you had it?

not long yet, about three months but so far it's rock solid, stable and very easy to use and control.

 

[cb450r]

Looks like a good quality jack for the $$
I am looking for a jack as well and am not impressed with the aluminum stuff.

 

[agfisher]

Looks like a good quality jack for the $$
I am looking for a jack as well and am not impressed with the aluminum stuff.

This thing is definitetly not Aluminum. I think it's about 100 lbs or so!!!

 

[PAToyota]

Not only that - but I have always hated the way this type of jack would release the pressure (on or off, hard to modulate).

I've been fairly pleased with my HF 3-ton jack - except for the modulation issue that you mention. I have a feeling that is just the nature of the beast for this type of jack - unless someone else has other experiences. In which case I'd really be interested in hearing about the options.

Recently I've had the need for a second jack around the shop and am trying to decide between one of the "lighter" aluminum ones (sorry, but 70 lbs. is still pretty freaking heavy) and one of the long frame ones (which, admittedly, is even heavier).

[edit]Sorry, for some reason I thought I saw a weight of 70 lbs. on the one I was looking at, but now I can only find a 2-ton aluminum model weighing 45 lbs. I could have sworn that they had a 3-ton aluminum model...

 

[Underdog]

Did they make it right for you? If they didn't contact the manufacturer!
Hein Warner Customer service is:
Shinn Fu Company of America, Inc.
10939 N. Pomona Avenue
Kansas City, Missouri 64153
United States

Telephone: (816) 891-6390

Fax: (816) 891-6599

Email: [email protected]

By the way; what did they charge for shipping for the jack? I noticed it was 110 lbs. but when I tried to check out on the website; they didn't show a shipping charge for the first shipping type, UPS Ground Saver. Is their shipping free?

They charged $80.00 shipping to Florida. Talked with the distributer today and they said they would have the manufacturer ship me two new replacement casters today or Monday. Thanks for the links.

 

[Danglerb]

http://www.vorshlag.com/tech_jacks1.php its a review of a dozen or so floor jacks.

The AF&F 200T appears to be made in China (according to the Pantera site). Summit has it for I think $208 shipped.

 

[eschoendorff]

This thing is definitetly not Aluminum. I think it's about 100 lbs or so!!!

I don't see what the big deal is about having an aluminum jack anyway - unless you race on the weekends (like Mugenlude) and need portability. Give me steel/cast iron anyday...

 

[SpiderGearsMan]

mugen lude ? does it involve hondas and medication ?

 

[Moose-LandTran]

'Lude is short for Prelude.

 

[Danglerb]

Its a simple choice, do you need to pick up the jack to move it?

YES) Aluminum is going to be a LOT less work.

NO) Heavy steel is stronger and cheaper.

 

[TxDoc]

I have the same jack that eschoendorff shows. Use it about twice a month and have had it for about 2 years, no problems. I had the orange and white one, first and it could not hold pressure. Took it back and HF traded it out for the black and yellow one shown. A 15 or 20% coupon may help, too.

Good luck on your search. Maybe get some jack stands, too, if you don't already have them. I always use them, no matter what, just in case the jack does fail.